


Camping

by Ignicula



Category: God Eater (Video Games), God Eater 3
Genre: Camping, Cuddling & Snuggling, Insomnia, M/M, Male Protag is a bit of a workaholic, Mentioned Card Games
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:27:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23794594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ignicula/pseuds/Ignicula
Summary: The Hounds find themselves spending the night on the field during an extended mission. It comes to Hugo's attention that a certain mission leader never sleeps when they're camping. This has to be rectified.
Relationships: Hugo Pennywort/Protagonist (God Eater 3)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 57





	Camping

**Author's Note:**

> So, has anyone else ever noticed that when you're camping, you can never give yourself resting orders and just kind of stand there while everyone else rests? That's what prompted this.

Hugo still remembers when extended missions like this were considered not only highly unusual but also so high-risk that going alone was unthinkable. Despite this view he'd chosen to go alone on his first-ever trip, and it still hurt to think about the way that Luca had begged him to let him come along even though he had his own part that needed doing. Eventually, though, they had become while still not usual enough to be considered an everyday occurrence, a part of what they considered normal for The Hounds.

Just as normal, Hugo discovered, as the tendency of a certain white-haired AGE to never actually  _ sleep  _ on said missions.

This was the third night of their mission, and Hugo had yet to see Luca take a break. He, Zeke, and Lulu had been rather busy while they were at camp as well; Luca did his best to keep everyone in good shape while they were on missions.

Everyone, it seemed, but himself.

“Hey, has anyone here ever seen Luca sleep on one of these missions?” He brings it up with the other two.

“No,” Lulu says, “as the mission leader, he feels obligated to be on alert at all times.” She casts a worried look in his direction. 

Hugo grimaces. “I’ve noticed he doesn’t sleep on the shorter trips we take, but usually the longer ones call for those with higher ash resistance like Phym and Neal. This is the first time I’ve seen him go so long without resting.”

“Yeah,” Zeke says, “But Luca’s kind of a secret workaholic. You know how most of the time we’re not on missions he’s either wandering the chrysanthemum looking for work to do or following you around, right?”

Hugo frowns.  _ I had noticed, but I’d thought it was just normal Luca.  _

Speaking of the devil, Luca walked over from where he’d been keeping watch at the entrance to camp. “All clear for now. Zeke, could you take the watch for a few hours?”

“Yeah, you can count on me!” He stood up and walked to the entrance without complaint. 

Luca walks over to the fire with Lulu. “Remember to tune your god arc before you sleep,” he says, “I’ll make the oden like how you showed me, so there’ll be food when you’re done.”

She blinks in surprise. “Oh, thanks.” 

Hugo watches in concern.  _ They notice, but they never say anything huh? _

“Hugo, you nearly hurt yourself yesterday right? Get some rest.”

“And what about you?”

He blinks in surprise, his one visible blue eye flickering up to Hugo. “Me?”

“When are you planning to rest?” Hugo asks. “I haven’t seen you sleep once on this trip.”

“That’s because I’m the mission leader,” Luca says like it’s obvious. “I have to stay awake to keep everyone else safe.”

“And what happens if you collapse from exhaustion on the field? Don’t think I haven’t noticed how you switch to a shotgun for long missions due to the suffering of your aim.”

Luca flinches at that. “I… um…”

Hugo sighs, deciding to lay down the law. “Lulu, Zeke and I will take turns with the watch. You’re resting.” He glances to Lulu. “That’s okay with you?” 

She seems grateful that he’s finally said something. “There’s no problem.”

“Wha… Hugo!” Luca argues. “I’m the mission leader, I can’t just…”

“And I’m the leader of The Hounds,” Hugo replies. “So that makes it my job to watch over you. Just take a night to rest, okay? You’ve more than earned it.”

“...Just let me try making oden first.” He says. 

“That reminds me… when did you find time to learn how to cook?” Hugo asks.

“Oh,” Lulu perks up, “During core resonance testing, we went out to raid some old stores for some ingredients to make Oden. It was to help with my resonance rating. I showed him how to do it while we were at it.”

“Really?” Hugo asks. “Luca, wouldn’t that make it the first time you ever cooked anything?”

“That was your first attempt?” Lulu perks up at the knowledge. “You were really good at it!”

“Um, thank you.” Luca replies as he prepares the ingredients. “I thought it was interesting, so I wanted to give my best effort.”

“Hmm…” Hugo watches the other’s task with interest.  _ He’s definitely new to this, but at the same time he’s not that bad. Another hidden talent, I suppose.  _

“I swear, it’s like you’re good at everything.” Lulu comments. Hugo sees Luca puff up a bit and decides to do a little teasing.

“Everything, you say?”

Luca nearly drops the first stick of Oden into the fire. “Hugo don’t you dare.”

“Oh?” Lulu perks up. “This sounds interesting.”

“Um…” 

Lulu just thumps him on the head. “You volunteered to be our chef, back to cooking.”

“R-right…” He deflates, turning back to his task while Lulu refocuses on Hugo, clearly intent on hearing what he had to say.

“You know how despite all the times we’ve played poker, Luca never actually winds up joining in the game himself even though he pretends to be open to the idea?”

Lulu blinks. “You mean… that was on purpose?”

“He sucks at cards.”

“Hugo.” Luca complains. “Can you stop gossiping about me behind my back?”

“It’s hardly behind your back when I know you’re listening.” Hugo replies. “I’m gossiping to your face.”

He rolls his eyes. “Is there any difference?”

“After this, you can prove me wrong.” Hugo smirks. “Let’s break out the card deck.”

“Nooooooooo.” Luca groans. 

Lulu smirks. “Then it’s true, huh?”

“Did I hear poker?” Zeke pokes his head back into the room.

“I’m challenging Luca after dinner,” Lulu declares. 

“Wait, you are? But he sucks, it won’t even be a good game.”

“Zeke!” Luca cries, betrayed. “Why are you all teaming up on me?”

“What? Opportunities like this are rare!” Zeke replied.

“I’m burning your oden.”

“Ack… alright, alright, I’m sorry!”

The meal is surprisingly good for someone who barely knows how to cook. It’s not quite as good as what Lulu can make, but it’s good enough that Hugo decides it’s safe to let Amy know to add Luca to the list of people who take turns on kitchen duty. It’s a short list considering the fact most of them are… mediocre on the very rare good days. He’s about to call it a night and get to doing some tuning on his god arc that he realizes Luca is habitually slipping off to go keep watch.

“Oi, Luca, you’re resting tonight, remember?”

Luca pauses. “R-right.” Suddenly Hugo doubts it was done as a habit and leans more on the assumption that Luca was just hoping he’d forgotten. He walks over to his bedroll set up right next to Hugo’s and sits down on it cautiously.

_ His bedroll…  _ “Have you ever actually used that before?”

He doesn’t meet Hugo’s eyes. “Well… no.”

“Now’s a good chance to try it out,” Hugo replies. “Get some rest.” He turns to Lulu and Zeke. “If anyone catches this guy trying to do the usual wake me up and I’ll drag him back.”

“Understood,” Lulu says with a quick nod. “Zeke, wake me up when it’s time for my watch.”

“I will. See you in a few hours.”

“See you then.”

Hugo watches their two strongest fighters slip into their bedrolls. Lulu doesn’t take that long to fall asleep, he notes. As soon as her head hits the fabric she’s out like a light. He expects Luca to toss and turn a bit, but when he looks down…

_ He’s completely dead to the world already. Just how tired was he? _

Luca is curled up, one hand reaching out to grab the handle of one of his god arc blades, hair cascading over his face. His body is completely limp from exhaustion, and Hugo wonders if they’re going to be able to wake him up in the morning or if he’s just going to have to carry him the rest of the way back to the ash crawler. 

Hugo finishes tuning up his god arc, but feels hesitant to sleep all of a sudden, not wanting to leave Luca unguarded when he’s like this. Lulu and Zeke too would be more vulnerable if he slept, too, and considering he’s taken over as the mission leader…

_ Oh, so this is why Luca didn’t want to sleep. _

He distantly hears the cry of an aragami, distant enough that they don’t need to be concerned but still enough to raise hairs on the back of his neck. No matter how many nights he spends out here he’ll never quite get used to having to hear the aragami out there.

“Kinda creepy, huh?” Zeke asks. “You hear them all day and night, even if they’re not anywhere near you.”

“You’re right about that,” Hugo agrees. “You used to live out here with Zeke and Keith before the ashlands, right?”

“Yeah, and they were usually a lot closer-sounding than this. If you know how to hide you’ll be fine.”

“That’s somewhat reassuring and somewhat not.” Hugo looks down at Luca’s peaceful sleeping face and can’t help reaching forwards to brush some of his hair out of his face, tucking it behind his ear.

“...Man, you’ve really got it bad.” Zeke teases.

“W-what?”

“Oh, nothing. Anyways, I’ll keep watch for a few more hours before I wake Lulu up, and after her it's your turn. Don’t be a hypocrite.”

“Right. If anything happens, wake us up.”

“That’s what the watch is for,” Zeke replies.

Hugo settles down in his own sleeping bag, looking up at the ceiling of their cave. 

_ I’ve heard stories about how camping used to be. You’d go with your family and/or close friends with a tent and supplies, set up camp somewhere in the wilderness. Apparently people always told stories around the campfire and roasted marshmallows to eat with chocolate and graham crackers. Nobody needed to keep watch either. _

He wonders what it might be like to have gone camping in the time before the great collapse, before the aragami appeared. It would have certainly been very different than this, but at the same time… he’s sure some things might’ve remained constant.

He hears a Marduk howl in the far distance, and somehow it doesn’t put him on alert as it should have.

_ Maybe this kind of camping has its appeal too. _

O

Lulu stretches as her turn for watch ends, heading back into the campsite. It’s been an uneventful night and she’ll be glad to get back to sleep.

She turns to wake Hugo and freezes.

_...Aww. _

Hugo is on his side facing Luca, and Luca has turned similarly to face him. Instead of gripping his god arc, Luca has reached out to grab Hugo’s arms in his sleep, dragging the other’s hand closer to him in his sleep.

Luca was somewhat terrifying when she first met him, and for long after that she hadn’t really seen any side of him but the silent AGE who led their missions. Somehow, though, that was completely contradicted by his actual personality. 

_ He’s actually pretty gentle and cute like this, huh? _

She doesn’t want to wake Hugo because that’ll end this scene, but she knows he’ll also be angry at her if she doesn’t and Luca will never sleep when they camp again. She quietly walks up to Hugo and shakes his shoulder.

He twitches, blinking. “Lulu… is it my turn for the watch?”

“Yeah, but be careful getting up.”

“Hmm?” Hugo’s eyes drift to where she’s looking and he freezes, breath catching. He slowly smiles, carefully extracting his arm and petting Luca on the head. The other AGE moves only to snuggle into Hugo’s hand before returning to sleep.

_ Those two really do have it bad. I hope Luca realizes it soon so he and Hugo can actually get together. Honestly, he’s the most oblivious person I know. _

Hugo walks over to the mouth of the cave and Lulu returns to her own temporary bed with a yawn, looking back over at Luca before her eyes drift to Hugo.

_ I’m so glad someone finally said something to him about that not sleeping habit. What I just witnessed was definitely worth it. _

She drifts off to sleep in comfort, mentally already preparing for the fight ahead of them in the morning.

O

The next day, they discover that one reason Luca never slept on missions was because of just how terrible his bedhead got in a short amount of time and Lulu has to help him get the massive knot that formed right in front of his eyes out while Zeke laughs and Hugo frets in the background. From then on, they decide that spare hair brushes are absolutely necessary for missions and that they should have at least five of them.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed! Just a short thing I wrote on a whim after a while of not posting, so sorry if it's not as good as some of the other things I've written.   
> Also I have no idea how you actually make oden so sorry if I said anything wrong in the vague descriptions I did of it being prepared.


End file.
